Keshet International (KI) has completed its first pre-sale for Furia, the hotly anticipated drama co-produced by Norway’s Monster Scripted and Germany’s X-Filme Creative Pool for Viaplay and ZDF. 

Coinciding with its world premiere in the International Competition at this year’s Series Mania in Lille, the compelling thriller created by Mammon’s Gjermund S Eriksen has been sold by KI to Australia’s public service broadcaster SBS.

Peter Andrews, Head of Network Programming, Television and Online Content for SBS Australia comments, “Every now and then, a drama series comes along, and I go “wow”. Furia, with its extraordinary characters and meticulously crafted story, is on one level an incredible thrill-ride for the audience, but on another level, a prescient wake-up call for the world. SBS is exceptionally proud to have partnered with Keshet International on this incredibly distinctive and thrilling drama series, to complement our insatiable thirst for impactful, extraordinary storytelling both locally and from around the world.” 

Kelly Wright, KI’s SVP of Distribution and New Business says, “As always, SBS is at the forefront of thrilling new television drama and we are delighted that they have selected our series Furia. This series sees our hero Ragna, like a female Jason Bourne, chasing down the perpetrators of what promises to be Europe’s own 9/11 terror event, all while a ticking clock and thousands of lives hang in the balance. It’s frighteningly prescient and ground-breakingly executed across Europe’s most powerful countries, making for an absolutely riveting viewing experience.” 

Furia is a tense, eight-part thriller with a dark, twist-laden plot involving two key protagonists and four different identities. Set against the backdrop of two of Europe’s most distinguished capital cities – Oslo and Berlin – as well as rural western Norway, Furia sees them work in tandem to bring down a terrifying far-right terror cell and heal the grief that drives them. 

An edge-of-your-seat mix of undercover thriller and prescient political drama, the story centers around a far-right extremist terror cell, hellbent on carrying out an atrocity the likes of which Europe has never seen before.  Special ops officer Asgeir (Pål Sverre Hagen: Beforeigners) is living the quiet life in western Norway after escaping from the Russian underworld and assuming a new identity. When his world collides with Ragna’s (Ine Marie Willmann: Exit), they face a race against the clock to prevent the unthinkable from happening on German soil. 

Created by International Emmy winner Gjermund Stenberg Eriksen (Mammon), Furia is directed by Magnus Martens, who has helmed episodes of major US series such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Walking Dead: World Beyond and Good Behavior, and Lars Kraume (The People vs. Fritz Bauer).  Furia will premiere across the Nordics on Viaplay from 26 September, and in Germany on ZDF from 7 November. 

Following successful sales to multiple territories of BBC One’s The Trial of Christine Keeler  and Seven Studios’ Secret Bridesmaids’ Business by KI, Furia is one of the global distributor’s 2021 slate of high-profile international dramas: sitting alongside Keshet 12’s  Line in the Sand, Israel’s highest rating drama since 2015 which has recently been sold in France (Brut X), Germany (RTL), Belgium (BETV) and Australia (Paramount+); and Pørni, Viaplay’s comedy-drama created by and starring Herniette Steenstrup which has also been selected by Series Mania (for its 2021 Panorama competition). KI plans to launch a further raft of international titles at its second ‘virtual’ Preview Event for buyers this October, including Glassriver’s six-part comedy-drama Journey which sees its co-creators and co-stars take an emotional rollercoaster of a road trip around Iceland’s Westfjordlands.